There is a time for everything under the sun, as the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote in chapter three. This past week has been a time of recharging, renewing, and refreshing for many people at Polishing the Pulpit.

When thinking of the summer months which are now almost all but gone and of all the great memories that were made, I always think of the picturesque moments in life. I think of the ones you like to set as a background or the perfect capturing of some exotic place. Yet, every time I see these pictures, or attempt taking one myself, I go back to Psalm 19:1, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” There are many good and useful arguments we use to support the existence of a creator. The one here is the ascetic argument. It is the idea that if the world came around by pure chance, and just happened to come to be, what would the point be for there to be beauty in the world? A system or mechanism like natural selection does not care for the beauty in the creatures nor does it have anything to do with the beauty of this world.

During the Revolutionary War, three were awarded. Then the award called the “Badge of Military Merit” was largely forgotten. It was put before Congress by Chief of Staff Army General Summerall unsuccessfully in 1927. Finally, in 1931, it was revived due to efforts by General Douglas MacArthur. And on February 22, 1932 on what would have been George Washington’s 200th birthday, Congress officially reinstated the award originated by him, and renamed it the Purple Heart.

I’ve been blessed to be a part of a number of Campaigns over the years, and count it a blessing to be on the most recent Teen Campaign to Paducah. One thing that sticks out to me each trip is the fellowship.